It is always an uplifting experience to observe the skill, love and care of our more than 260 staff at Giant Steps. It is often the case that our students and participants in the Giant Steps programs have significant behavioural, developmental and sensory issues and find the world a frightening and confusing place.

There are many stories of challenge and achievement at Giant Steps, from humble beginnings a little over 28 years ago Giant Steps has grown to operate primary and secondary schools, post-school programs and mental health clinics in Sydney and Melbourne. Giant Steps is recognised globally for innovation and inclusion as our team of speech, music and occupational therapists work with teachers, support staff, psychologists and families to design individualised education and therapy programs for children and adults profoundly impacted by autism.

It is the care, skill, understanding and experience of the team at Giant Steps that makes both our students and families feel like they have found a home, a place where they will be understood, a place where they will be given a chance. Families often tell a story of feeling alone and isolated, of worrying whether their child will find a place in the world, it is these circumstances that first created Giant Steps and has seen us grow as more families come to us needing our help and hoping to join our large Giant Steps family.

From the very beginning we wanted to make Giant Steps available to people from all walks of life and circumstances and therefore decided we would not charge school fees, we would instead put our faith in the generosity of our families, friends and the Giant Steps community. Although Federal and State Government funding covers part of these costs, the fundraising task is approximately $35,000 per student. We rely on the generosity and support of many to continue to deliver our high-quality services and offer places to students from our very long waiting lists.

Thank you for your support of Giant Steps.

Barry Irvin AM

Across Sydney and Melbourne, Giant Steps does not charge fees. If you can, please consider making a tax deductible donation before June 30 to support the unique and specialised services Giant Steps provides.
Your support will help children and adults on the autism spectrum learn to communicate and live as independently as possible.

Our latest video gives a small insight into why your help is so important.

As a largely innumerate barrister, preoccupied with matters of criminal law, fundraising has never been in my skillset. But my seven-year-old son Louis is fortunate enough to attend Giant Steps. Part of being a member of our school necessarily involves fundraising because the trans-disciplinary and individualised program is labour and resource intensive.

For the first time in the history of Giant Steps Melbourne, we managed to get a wonderful fundraising event off the ground – a stair climb involving 96 floors and 1700 steps.

Whilst registering for the event and setting up my donation page, I received an email alert from an address I have come to know and cherish since 2012 when I spent time at the County Court of Victoria as strategic adviser to the much-loved former Chief Judge – Michael Rozenes KC AO.

The author was County Court Judge Frank Gucciardo. Over the last 13 years, Judge Gucciardo has regularly shared his musings on life, love, literature, philosophy, art and all the things that make life rich and meaningful, with his dedicated readership of aptly titled ‘ciceronians.’ Judge Gucciardo shares stories and content from authors and thinkers he admires. The messages are educative (there is always a bit of Latin I have to admit to putting through google translate), thought provoking and often uplifting. Significantly, in the 13 years of Cicero, Judge Gucciardo has preserved his emails as a special space for pondering the bigger questions. He has never solicited or used his vast database for any other purpose.

Without thinking, I hit reply and shared my newly established fundraising page with Judge Gucciardo:

Hello Judge!

Long time. I hope this finds you well. Please don’t hesitate to say no if this request is a little too much but I was thinking about your regular email musings (which I thoroughly enjoy) and how broad your reach is. I was wondering how you might feel about sharing my fundraising efforts below?

As some of you know, my little guy Louis is lucky enough to attend an amazing school called Giant Steps. Louis has Autism Spectrum Disorder and an Intellectual Disability. He is super cute but he can’t communicate well through language and can struggle to regulate his emotions. This can make school (and life in general) a bit hard for him.

Giant Steps is the only place in the world where he is safe and happy, all the time. When we finally got Louis into the school, his life, and my life, changed dramatically.

The team of educators, speech therapists, music therapists, OTs and counsellors at Giant Steps work tirelessly for lots of kids and adults like Louis living with Autism Spectrum Disorder. They survive on some government funding and tax deductable donations. They don’t charge school fees and don’t turn away children based on capacity to donate to the school.

This year, the school is running a Giant fundraiser! Giant Steps has never run a stair challenge in Melbourne before and we are hoping it will be a cracker.  

I have no idea how I will actually climb 96 floors without dying but I’m going to give a crack. It would mean a lot to me if you could help by making a donation on my fundraising page:

https://australia108stairchallenge23.grassrootz.com/giantstepsmelbourne/carly-marcs

​It only takes a minute and any donation you make (no matter how large or small) will go a long way to helping Giant Steps improve the lives of people like Louis.

Thank you, I really appreciate your support.

What happened next is a testament to the generosity and collegiality of the bench and our bar. Judge Gucciardo shared my request with his database that includes sitting and retired judicial officers. Matt Parnell and Sharon Noorman from Parnell’s barristers also shared my request with the entire list. I have been humbled and deeply moved by the extraordinary generosity of barristers and judicial officers. I could never have expected such generous donations and messages of support and encouragement.

Life as a special needs parent can be challenging. But sometimes, also uplifting. For every angry old man glaring at me in the supermarket because my son has touched his pumpkin whilst stimming, there are barristers and judges supporting him and me and thereby erasing any shame.

When we come together as a legal community, we can do amazing things and I managed to raise over $34,000!

Words like gratitude and appreciation can’t convey how this has made me and my family feel.

Carly Marcs

1000 ‘giant’ steps, 40 floors and 217 metres of vertical height! We can’t wait to welcome you back to Tower One, located on the beautiful harbour foreshore at Barangaroo.
C’mon Sydney – we dare you!
Run, walk or crawl to the top of Tower One on Sunday 6 August and know that every step will make a difference to children and adults on the autism spectrum.

We would like to acknowledge our wonderful corporate sponsors whose contributions go such a long way towards the record-breaking results of this year’s major fundraisers in Sydney and Melbourne. With special thanks to Max Denton and the Estate of the Late William Denton and The Sovereign Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta.

Enchanted Evening Ball – Sydney

Held on Saturday 17 June 2023, ICC, Darling Harbour

Gold Sponsor: Quay Business Services

Australia 108 Stair Challenge – Melbourne

Held on Sunday 7 May, A108, Southbank

Sponsors: Maddocks, Multiplex, Australia 108

Giant Steps Golf Classic – Melbourne

Held on Tuesday 23 May, Kingston Heath, Cheltenham

Sponsors: Adapt Wealth Management, Arnold Bloch Leibler, BFH, BMF, Central Equity, Gary Peer, Innovative Retail, MaxCap, My Occ Health Record, WeAreDigital

Event Partners: Crown Resorts, Sound Insurance

Giant Steps Australia is a registered charity and donations are tax deductible.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT